It's not just potluck anymore…

Posts tagged ‘roasted carrots’

In my last post I shared the recipe for the meatloaf we make at Calvary. Here’s a look at the work it took today to turn 140 pounds of lean ground beef into 700 slices of meatloaf deliciousness:

Fourteen batches mixed by hand

Making meatloaf can also be great for therapeutic stress relief!

70 loaves, hand sculpted and ready for the oven…350 for an hour, then add the secret sauce on top, then another 30 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, slice into 10 pieces per loaf and then it’s time to eat…

For a side dish we made 80 pounds of fresh sliced carrots, tossed in a glaze of honey, lemon juice, melted butter, salt and pepper, then roasted in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Even cooked carrot haters like myself have to admit these are delicious. We were careful not to overcook them and left them a little crunchy.

Our other side dishes were cheesy potato casserole and steamed green beans with a red wine vinegar/dijon mustard vinegrette and sauted red onions.

Cheesy Church Potatoes with a crunchy crushed cornflake topping… Not a single serving leftover.

One diner told the kitchen crew tonight that these were “the best green beans I have ever had.” Thanks for the encouraging words!

And now for dessert: We call these cakes “Decadent Devil’s Food” and “Heavenly Angels”

This is super easy: Bake a white cake from a mix according to the directions on the box. While still hot, use a knife or the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the top of the cake. Mix together 1/2 of a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk with 8 oz cream of coconut and spread over the hot cake. Top with 20 oz of crushed pineapple, drained. Chill cake overnight (if you can stand not to eat it right away), then top with 8 oz cool whip and toasted coconut.

Use the same method with the devil’s food cake, except substitute 6 oz of either butterscotch or caramel ice cream topping for the cream of coconut. And substitute 6 oz of chocolate ice cream topping for the pineapple. No chocolate cake left tonight!

Tom tries to get the cake servers to look up so he can take another helping. It’s not working Tom!

430 diners signed in and ate with us tonight and that means a lot of dirty dishes. Lucky for us we have some super cheerful workers:

Welcome back from vacation Peg!

Thanks for reading the blog. Share it with your friends. Please feel free to post any comments or suggestions you have. If there is a particular recipe you’d like to see posted, let me know and I’ll get it on here for you.

See you at Calvary Lutheran Church next Wednesday for turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, dinner rolls, and pumpkin spice cake. Any day is a good day for a Thanksgiving dinner.